Fingers crossed that I fixed my fork seal leak... Hopefully!

MICRider · 04-09-2011, 08:32 PM

I had a weeping seal on my front left fork. It started leaking at only 2400 km's. Never had one konk out that quick before! I bought a set of new seals online, All Balls brand, but after reading a few reviews it seems people have had a lot of problems with the All Balls seals so I was reluctant to install them. At the suggestion of people here and on the KLR forum I decided to try to clean the seal with a SealMate.

I pulled the boot up and slid up the wiper to use the seal saver and found what I think was causing my leak... The fork tube had a tiny little mark in it. Almost like a little pit or nick, but you could catch your fingernail on it. Pretty sure that was causing the problem. I'm guessing that the seal is damaged and will need replaced anyway, but I got some superfine wet/dry sandpaper and gingerly polished out the nick until it felt smooth and no longer catches your nail. Then I ran the SealMate around the tube twice to clean the seal lip and pumped the forks 20 or so times... No leaks!!

I'm guessing that I'll have to change out the seals anyway, but at least I think I found the problem. Not leaking right now so I'll keep a close eye on it. Funny part is, why would the fork have a nick in the tube? The bike has boots on the forks so no gravel hits them and it's only 3 years old now with low mileage. Guess maybe it was like that since manufacture?

So, I'm impressed with the SealMate and if the fork doesn't leak anymore I will be very happy!

Now, to just be able to find the time to ride...

Cheers,
Stew

04-09-2011, 08:32 PM	#1
MICRider Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 3,274	Fingers crossed that I fixed my fork seal leak... Hopefully! I had a weeping seal on my front left fork. It started leaking at only 2400 km's. Never had one konk out that quick before! I bought a set of new seals online, All Balls brand, but after reading a few reviews it seems people have had a lot of problems with the All Balls seals so I was reluctant to install them. At the suggestion of people here and on the KLR forum I decided to try to clean the seal with a SealMate. I pulled the boot up and slid up the wiper to use the seal saver and found what I think was causing my leak... The fork tube had a tiny little mark in it. Almost like a little pit or nick, but you could catch your fingernail on it. Pretty sure that was causing the problem. I'm guessing that the seal is damaged and will need replaced anyway, but I got some superfine wet/dry sandpaper and gingerly polished out the nick until it felt smooth and no longer catches your nail. Then I ran the SealMate around the tube twice to clean the seal lip and pumped the forks 20 or so times... No leaks!! I'm guessing that I'll have to change out the seals anyway, but at least I think I found the problem. Not leaking right now so I'll keep a close eye on it. Funny part is, why would the fork have a nick in the tube? The bike has boots on the forks so no gravel hits them and it's only 3 years old now with low mileage. Guess maybe it was like that since manufacture? So, I'm impressed with the SealMate and if the fork doesn't leak anymore I will be very happy! Now, to just be able to find the time to ride... Cheers, Stew
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